From Listing Preparation to Close of Escrow
I. Preparing Your Home for the Market
1. A site visit to your home with face mask on and keeping social distance.
2. Discuss appropriate preparation, maybe with an interior designer or a staging consultant:
✓ Remodeling consultation
✓ Color scheme
✓ Seasonal touches
✓ Cost consciousness
3. Provide resources whenever necessary
✓ Contractors
✓ Supply resources
✓ Miscellaneous service providers
✓ Inspectors
✓ Stagers – Staging is a very important step nowadays. Only a staged home will make professional pictures attractive. It will also create a good and important first online impression.
4. If you have lived in your property for decades and have accumulated a lot over time, we will discuss the process of reducing and eliminating personal items in an organized manner to minimize stress. If it is a trustee sale, I will guide the trustee through the process accordingly.
5. Review the preparation process and results as necessary
6. Provide comparables of the local market
7. Visit available listings to compare with your own
8. Provide suggested market price range with explanations
9. Discuss showing instructions that follows all COVID-19 real estate guidelines
10. Professional photography for marketing material
11. Discuss disclosure items
12. Coordinate appropriate inspections – The most common inspections
are termite and home inspections. If there are items that seller is
concerned about, order inspections as needed.
13. Open a pre-sale escrow
14. If an HOA is involved, order HOA documents
II. When the Property Goes on the Market
15. Have reports and disclosures ready for prospective buyer’s inquiry
16. Prepare property flyers at the property, in the office and other
marketing locations (Property flyers are not allowed at the property
during COVID-19. We need to adhere to the contactless practice as
much as possible.)
17. Install lockbox – Ask seller for a key for access
18. Mail 100 Just Listed Postcards to the immediate neighborhood
19. Present listing at realtors marketing meeting on Zoom: Contra Costa
Realtors In Motion (About 150 active realtors and affiliates meet on
Tuesday mornings. Under the COVID-19, active realtors still meet to
update each other and present new listings as they become available.)
20. Brokers tours are currently not allowed during COVID-19
21. Open houses are currently not allowed during COVID-19
22. Advertise listing online: Facebook, AREAA (Asian Real Estate Association
of America) network members, Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia, Redfin,
Yahoo, Craigslist, and all online portals.
23. Send email to my network to notify them about my new listing and
follow all COVID-19 property showing guidelines and have face
masks, gloves, hand sanitizers and disinfecting wipes at the property
entrance.
24. Require all property visitors to sign the Property Entrance Advisory
and Declaration (PEAD) form before entering the property.
25. Require buyers to provide pre-approval letter before scheduling the
showing appointment.
26. Follow up with possible leads
III. Before We Receive an Offer or Multiple Offers
27. Answer all prospective buyers’ inquiries. If I do not have the answers
right away, I will contact the seller to obtain answers for the
prospective buyer(s). All answers must be the truth.
28. Provide reports and disclosures as necessary
29. If an HOA is involved, have HOA documents ready for buyers to review
IV. When We Receive an Offer or Multiple Offers
30. Review buyer’s financial ability to close escrow
31. Contact buyer’s lender to verify buyer’s ability to close escrow
32. Negotiate price and terms based on seller’s best interest
33. Prepare counter offer(s)
34. In case of multiple offers situation, review all offers with seller.
Compare all offers based on price, terms and the buyer’s ability to
close escrow. Organize all offers on a spreadsheet. Recommend the
best offer for seller to accept.
35. When multiple counter offers are necessary, approach and decisions
will be made based on the seller’s best interest.
36. Buyer and seller reach an agreement and sign the ratified contract
V. When We Are in Escrow
37. Seller signs escrow instructions
38. Obtain escrow information – escrow number, escrow officer’s name
and contact information
39. Follow contract timeline
40. Provide all reports and disclosures. Basic reports provided by seller are:
termite report, natural hazard disclosure report and preliminary title
report.
41. Buyer’s primary report is the home inspection report. Other
inspections and reports may follow after the home inspection.
42. Facilitate buyer inspections
43. Facilitate appraisal inspection
44. Stay in touch with buyer’s agent to prevent cold-feet buyer
45. Report to seller throughout the transaction
46. Provide utility information
47. Facilitate buyer’s final walk-through
48. Facilitate seller’s signing in escrow
49. Deliver key(s) to buyer or buyer’s agent
Congratulations for a successful transaction!
